Did Conde Nast Fix Its iPad Apps?

Two weeks ago we wrote about a nasty bug some users discovered in the Conde Nast iPad applications based on Adobe’s publishing technologies (oh byt the way, they just made the deal official) which, through a rather simple hack of preference files inside the app’s folder, allowed to download paid issues for free.

Back then, an Adobe spokesperson confirmed a new version of the Digital Content Viewer had been already shipped to developers and a fix would be released soon. Read more

Note & Share: A Note Taking App, With Twitter and Dropbox Support

There are so many note taking apps for iPhone and iPad out there in the App Store, I don’t want to even keep a list of them anymore. Since Dropbox announced the possibility for developers to plug into the system and people remembered that Evernote has always been a great solution to store notes, developers rushed to release both great and terrible clients to create notes and save them to multiple online locations. Me? I’ve been using Simplenote all along and I’m not moving away from it, although PlainText makes a great note taking application with excellent Dropbox support.  Read more

iPhone Security Hole Lets You Make Calls When The Phone Is Locked

It seems like there’s a huge bug in iOS 4.1 for iPhone: with a combination of sleep / power button and a fake emergency call, it is possible to access the iPhone’s contact list and phone keypad even if the device is locked. I personally tested the method and, indeed, it works: I was able to bypass iOS’ passcode lock check and make a phone call to a friend of mine. Read more

“Apple Sacrificing Usability For Platform Consistency”→

“Apple Sacrificing Usability For Platform Consistency”

Craig Grannell on iOS scrollbars coming to OS X and the mute button on iOS 4.2 for iPad:

Both these things point to Apple wanting to merge concepts in iOS and Mac OS X at all costs. Some cross-pollination is undoubtedly a good idea—Mac OS X having system-wise auto-save/app-resumption will be a major productivity boost if implemented properly; but Apple must also remember that what works on one system won’t necessarily work on the other—and it should also realise that some things really don’t work from a usability standpoint on iOS as it is, and so welding such concepts to Mac OS X isn’t a great idea.

The mute button is a terrible idea. As for iOS scrollbars and scrolling system coming to the desktop, my only concern is whether these features will bring any real improvement besides graphical eye candy. On the iPhone and iPad, rubber-banding is nice because you actually touch the screen and you get this neat scrolling effect. What about the Mac, though, where you place your fingers on a trackpad and you see a pointer on screen?

[via Dan Frakes]

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Lukas Mathis On Lion’s Fullscreen Mode→

Lukas Mathis On Lion’s Fullscreen Mode

Apple has added «systemwide support for full-screen apps» to Lion. While I agree that the window management system we currently have often causes huge usability issues, simply doing away with it altogether is not solving the problem. It’s capitulating.

There has got to be a way of managing windows that gets rid of the problems caused by overlapping windows, while still giving people the ability to see more than one app at a time. How often do people write text while referring to a webpage? How often do people drag a picture from iPhoto into a Word document, or a file from a Finder window into an email message? Even the most basic tasks commonly require people to see more than one app at a time.

While I don’t mind making the Mac easier to use and learn, I feel that simply switching to full-screen modes isn’t a good way of doing that.

But Apple is not thinking about users who constantly jump back and forth between OmniFocus and Chrome. By making the experience “immersive” and letting you concentrate “on every detail”, they’re clearly trying to appeal those users fascinated by iOS’ way of dealing with applications. Frankly, I don’t think I’ll use fullscreen apps that much.

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Action Menu Voice Can Now Read SMS and MMS | Cydia

Action Menu Voice is a free extension to Ryan Petrich’s amazing Action Menu tweak that brings proper text-to-speech features to jailbroken devices. With a “lips” button in Action Menu’s default interface, you can let your iPhone or iPad “speak” selected text pretty much like on OS X.

The latest 0.6-3 update (available as usual for free in Cydia), brings support for reading SMS and MMS. So if you, say, got that awkward text from your drunk friend last night and you’d like to make fun of him with a creepy robotic voice - well, now you can.

I don’t know why you’d want to, though.

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PBS Grows Up with Redesigned Website, New iPad App

PBS has launched a redesigned website with a new online player, a new iPad app, and they are targeting toward their grown-up viewers. It’s all part of a bigger plan to bring more local content to wider national audience.

Welcome to the new PBS.org. We’ve redesigned the site to provide users with a richer experience by highlighting content from local PBS stations, as well as the best of your favorite national programs. PBS.org now gives you easy access to videos, blog posts, articles and more from your community, and makes it easier to find TV schedule information and content specific to your stations. Visitors from more than 80 different communities across the country will be able to see links to locally produced content while browsing the site, with more areas coming soon.

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